Solve for $x$ and $y$ using elimination. ${x-2y = -11}$ ${-3x-5y = -55}$
Explanation: We can eliminate $x$ by adding the equations together when the $x$ coefficients have opposite signs. Multiply the top equation by $3$ ${3x-6y = -33}$ $-3x-5y = -55$ Add the top and bottom equations together. $-11y = -88$ $\dfrac{-11y}{{-11}} = \dfrac{-88}{{-11}}$ ${y = 8}$ Now that you know ${y = 8}$ , plug it back into $\thinspace {x-2y = -11}\thinspace$ to find $x$ ${x - 2}{(8)}{= -11}$ $x-16 = -11$ $x-16{+16} = -11{+16}$ ${x = 5}$ You can also plug ${y = 8}$ into $\thinspace {-3x-5y = -55}\thinspace$ and get the same answer for $x$ : ${-3x - 5}{(8)}{= -55}$ ${x = 5}$